Links

• Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care http://www.vpqhc.org
  
  
• Rural Assistance Center has a Critical Access Hospital section http://www.raconline.org/
  
  
• NH Foundation for Healthy Communities http://www.healthynh.com
  
  
• Medicare site at Health and Human Services website http://www.cms.hhs.gov/
  
  
• Home of the Survey and Certification Letters which update the conditions of participation http://www.cms.hhs.gov/SurveyCertificationGenInfo/PMSR/list.asp#TopOfPage
  
  
• The Technical Assistance and Services Center (TASC) provides technical assistance for the Rural Hospital Medicare Flexibility (Flex) Program in the form of information, tools and resources. http://www.ruralcenter.org/tasc/
  
  
• Agency for HealthCare Research Quality http://www.ahrq.gov/
  
  
• In every community there are certain individuals (the "Positive Deviants") whose special practices/ strategies/ behaviors enable them to find better solutions to prevalent community problems than their neighbors who have access to the same resources. Positive deviance is a culturally appropriate development approach that is tailored to the specific community in which it is used. http://www.positivedeviance.org/
  
  
• "The State Offices of Rural Health in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts have sought to build a collaborative model for its small rural hospitals and providers. To facilitate this process, a comprehensive Performance Improvement Readiness Assessment project was undertaken in 2004. This process identified Web site development as a top priority for assisting small and rural hospitals address Performance Improvement issues and keeping them informed of the many federal and state policy changes that impact rural hospitals. The goal of this online resource is to keep Critical Access and other small Rural Hospitals informed of the many changes in the policy and funding arena that impact a hospital's ability to provide quality services."   http://www.newenglandruralhealth.org/cahrh/links.htm